Chowders of all types expected at Prescott Park fest this weekend

Back in the 1800s, a group of heretics in Rhode Island decided to put tomatoes into clam chowder instead of milk or cream. This caused such a stir that those heretics were burned at the stake.

Rachel Forrest

Back in the 1800s, a group of heretics in Rhode Island decided to put tomatoes into clam chowder instead of milk or cream. This caused such a stir that those heretics were burned at the stake.

OK, not really, but New Englanders did shun this variation and relabelled it "Manhattan clam chowder" so there was no longer a New England association.

We went even further when, in 1939, a Maine legislator tried to introduce a bill that would make it illegal to use tomatoes in clam chowder. This was long after the late-1880s, when potatoes were finally showing up in the chowder pot.

Now we have many variations on the theme, but is it really "anything goes" in New England?

At the annual Chowder Festival in Prescott Park, we've seen many kinds of chowder these many years. We've tasted smoked scallop chowder, corn chowder and other vegetarian variations on the theme. Chowder with oysters and chorizo. We've seen spicy seafood chowder and, yes, yes, there has been Manhattan clam chowder, too. (The chef who made it, well, he doesn't seem to be around anymore.)

At least we've never seen New Jersey clam chowder with Old Bay Spice, but we have seen the Delaware version with salt pork, clams and potatoes along with plenty of butter. Of course, no one here would call it "Delaware" chowder.

Or how about Hatteras clam chowder with a clear broth, bacon, clams and flour — maybe even hot pepper sauce?

No. There's no cream to be seen.

If we were in Seattle, we'd be seeing pink with salmon in our chowder.

No, we go New England all the way. Clams, milk or cream, onions, butter, potatoes. Usually a bacon or salt pork for flavor. Sometimes thin, sometimes rib-stickingly thick.

While there are many great restaurants entered in the Chowder Fest this year, I asked some more local chefs what exactly makes for a great chowder.

Like Gregg Sessler, from Cava Tapas and Wine Bar in Portsmouth, where you might get the makings of a chowder in a bowl over which a creamy broth is poured tableside.

"I thicken mine with salsify and use fresh clams steamed in their own juices," Sessler says. " I render out really good bacon, use the fat, and then grind the cooked meats to use as a garnish."

Salsify — the long, earth-colored edible root of a plant of the daisy family that is said to have a taste resembling oysters and is cooked like a vegetable.

Sessler's avant garde cuisine buddy in Dover, chef Evan Hennessey, says, " I love dropping raw oysters into chowder, and using seaweed in the broth really ties the ocean back into it. And of course, gooood bacon."

Although you might see a clam chowder thoroughly deconstructed at his Stages at One Washington restaurant.

Justin Bigelow, executive chef at Mombo in Portsmouth, gives his chowder a twist.

Mallett does think it's OK to do a golden Manhattan chowder in Red Sox country with mahogany clams, yellow brandywine tomatoes and lots of garlic and marjoram.

Moxy Restaurant (Portsmouth) chef Matt Louis was even more afraid than Mark Segal to reveal his tips, but for a completely different reason.

"I have to abstain," he said. "When I started at the Wentworth years back, I was taught the recipes they use for clam chowder and lobster bisque, among others. But those two were so good, so authentic, and so close to perfect, I vowed that I would not doctor or change them at all. There were plenty of other things I could focus on, and they had nailed those two. And the beauty of it was that it was essentially an old-school, technically sound recipe/ratio that was not messed with. That was why it probably was, in my opinion, the best clam chowder I have ever had. All processes were done as Escoffier wrote 100 years ago — render bacon, add onions, cook potatoes in the liquid, cook clams in there — the whole thing I messed with. So, clam chowder is the one thing I have vowed not to put my twist on because of that. And credit goes to chef Dan Dumont."

Sticking with tradition is the way to go for chef Brent Hazelbaker from Dover's 7th Settlement as well.

"Of course being creative nowadays tends to make a mark, however, I couldn't agree more with Matt's old-school method," he says. "It never fails to hit all the key points of flavor. Some trade secrets of mine at most have been using my own bacon and creating a flavorful fumet and imparting that broth fresh New Hampshire clams and their liqueur clarified on the pick up, a la minute. Sticking with classic, that's the way."

We also have chef Ben Hasty who actually "went there." His new restaurant, Thistle Pig, opened last week in South Berwick, Maine.

"For a red chowder, I like to have some good heat with a nice spicy chorizo, smoked hot paprika, roasted onions, fingerling potatoes, lots of cilantro and a mountain of seafood, a mix of calamari, clams, mussels, uni, scallops, white fish, etc. For New England style, I stay pretty true to traditional ingredients, but I am all about the potato. I like to puree some cooked potatoes in place of using a roux to thicken and really make it creamy. I add a little zip with a dash of Tabasco and Worcestershire. And Jen (partner Jennifer Fecteau) reminds us not to forget corn chowdah. It's for sure what my mom made most of all growing up. Simple, fresh-from-the-garden corn, loads of bacon, onion and potatoes with good ol' corn bread on the side — cooked in the corn bread cast iron of course.

And finally, Martingale Wharf in Portsmouth is a contestant this year, and chef Matthew Provencher weighed in with a twist of his own.

Will this be at the Chowder Fest?

"I did one a few weeks ago with roasted hake, parsnips, carrots, onions, thick cut bacon and a little curry."

Curry?

Find out who brings what and if there will actually be anything but New England-style chowder on June 7.

About 4,000 of you in attendance and a panel of judges get to vote.

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